At least one team was able to inject some positivity into a season which has otherwise been a long, difficult one.

Saugus played stingy on defense and forced four first-half turnovers on the way to smacking Golden Valley 48-6 on Friday night at College of the Canyons.

In a matchup of teams tied for last place in the Foothill League, the Centurions (3-6 overall, 1-3 Foothill League) made it abundantly clear they weren’t going to let Golden Valley get its first-ever league victory on this night.

“We should have done this a long time ago,” said Saugus running back Ried Rupe. “We should have played like this a long time ago.”

With running back Leon Jacobs kept out of the game on offense due to a hip injury, the Grizzlies (0-9 overall, 0-4 Foothill League) never found an effective way to move the ball, and they also struggled to hang onto it.

Rupe ran for 64 yards and two scores on 10 carries, while catching two passes for 27 yards and a third touchdown for Saugus, which led 21-0 by midway through the first quarter and 41-0 at halftime.

The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

Rupe was the first to find the end zone on a 24-yard pass play from quarterback Chris Hamilton a little more than four minutes into the game to make it 8-0 after a two-point conversation.

It was one of the few shots the Centurions took down field as they mostly relied on screen passes and option plays.

“We’ve got to do what’s within our skill set,” said Saugus head coach Jason Bornn, who was dumped with water after the game. “We knew Golden Valley is aggressive on defense and we tried to take advantage of that.”

Golden Valley fumbled a kick return and a punt attempt, both of which led to scores for Saugus.

One came on a 21-yard run by Marc Langford on a reverse play, and the next came a minute later when Austin Davenport scooped up a fumbled punt and ran 21 yards to the end zone to make it 21-0 with 6:24 to play in the first.

Davenport also had an interception in the game.

Overall, the Grizzlies turned the ball over five times, three of them from interceptions thrown by quarterback Robert Phillips.

Up until Terence Tamura scampered for a 54-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, the Grizzlies were in negative yardage for overall offense.

Hamilton finished 9-for-18 for 135 yards and two passing touchdowns with one pick. He also ran for 47 yards on six attempts, one of which went for a 4-yard touchdown.

He completed his final scoring pass of the day to Kevin Lee up the middle for 19 yards.